Property losses due to windstorms cost billions of dollars annually around the world. Roof covering failures, in particular, routinely occur during the increased wind velocities experienced during hurricanes and other violent storms. High winds result in increased suction forces on a roof that can severely damage or completely destroy the roof. Of course, once the roof of a structure is compromised, or even worse, completely detached and blown away from the structure, the remaining building structure, its interior, contents, and even inhabitants are exposed to further damage or injury from inclement weather.
The uplift force on the roof occurs largely due to vortices that form in the separated air/wind flow along roof edges and particularly at the corners of a roof. Disrupting the creation of unwanted rooftop vortices is thus desirable, and there is a need for cost-effective structures and methods that can mitigate the uplift effect caused by vortices created due to incident high winds and that can further readily integrate with existing structures without the need for significant architectural or structural modifications.